Our guest this week, Hannah Morrison, has known Emory since 2nd grade. Hannah is studying to be a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Frontier Nursing University. She shares why she was inspired to get into the mental health field and what she has learned about the truths and myths of addiction from professional and personal experiences. Other topics include Emory's dating life, why we hide good news, and family trauma.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

Ryan Spickard joins us this week and tells us about his former job working in the alcohol industry of Louisville and the detrimental effects it had on his mental health. Ryan shares how his alcohol use coincided with the loss of his sister to suicide, how therapy helped him process that trauma, and how he accomplished a year of sobriety.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

Emory's sister-in-law, Leorimar Pareja Williamson, joins us on this week's episode. We talk about Leo's workshop with Brene Brown (they hugged!!!) and Leo talks about her miscarriage five months ago and advice she would give to those experiencing it themselves or supporting a friend or family member.

You can email Leorimar at [email protected].

Featured: Original theme music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

This week's guest is Nancy Brooks, Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Louisville (NAMI). Nancy tells us about NAMI's programs and how people can get involved. Stigma Free Workplace is their newest initiative, which you can learn more about here: namilouisville.org/stigma-free-workplace/.

Featured: Original theme music by Neil Lucas.

References:

"13 Chill Facts About Sloths" www.mentalfloss.com/article/559749/…ts-about-sloths

"Iliza: Elder Millennial" www.imdb.com/title/tt8697266/

"Her Money Matters" jenhemphill.com/category/podcast/

This week we talk to Jessica Yu, a new friend of the show and Louisville realtor by trade. Jessica shares how her experiences with mental health were shaped by early adulthood exposure to grief. We discuss how therapy, support groups, and spirituality have helped her cope over the years. Follow Jessica’s travel adventures with stuffed pandas @paulieandpete on Instagram.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

Jessica’s book recommendations: You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero, The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown, and Daring Greatly by Brene Brown.

This week, Spalding University creative writing student Brandon Cochran joins us and shares a piece he wrote about depression. We discuss the myths around “getting better,” why perfectionism sucks, the burden of others’ expectations, and writing as a therapeutic practice.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

This week on Two Nuts in a Pod, we chat with our good friend Sarah Maddix, Louisville local and mother of a human girl and two black cats. We talk about dealing with major life transitions, taking out the mental trash, and recognizing white privilege. Sarah also shares how being adopted has impacted the way she thinks about her mental health. We touch on anxiety, dread, and panic attacks.

Sarah works for Aetna and is currently spearheading a pilot referral program aimed at addressing the social determinants of health and dismantling the social barriers to healthcare access in Jefferson County. She gets Medicaid members plugged into community resources such as peer support, counseling, emergency financial assistance and food aid, job placement, as well as other community resources.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

Resources: @sicksadgirlz and @barbiesavior

Two Nuts in a Pod is thrilled to share the first episode played on Forward Radio. In this solo episode, we talk about why we do this show and how we got to a place with our mental health where we can have these open conversations. We also share our formative experiences with mental health, including diagnoses and misdiagnoses. See Emory's Ignite Memphis 2015 talk, "Dear Monster," on the experience he details in this episode: youtu.be/b2OInWsNVyg.

Featured: Original music for Two Nuts in a Pod by Neil Lucas.

Resources:

The Highly Sensitive Person by Elaine Aron.

www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers

We talk with Dorottya Sallee-Fellegi about how she is coping with newly diagnosed depression, how immigration affected her mental health, and how talking about feelings is the only way out of their grasp.

Josh tells us about his childhood behavioral issues and what it feels like to be labelled a problem at a young age.

Find Josh's podcasts:

Running the Ropes on Culture Shock

Hello Josh

Featured on @horrorblecast, horrorblepodcast.com

The Snark Tank (coming soon)